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Stop moaning and report the yobs, says Reid

JOHN REID, the home secretary, is to launch a campaign against yobbism by telling people to “stop moaning” about antisocial behaviour and do something about it.

Reid is to urge the public to take action against thuggery, vandalism and graffiti by alerting the authorities.

He outlined his plans to stamp his mark on Tony Blair’s flagship “respect agenda” to ministers at a cabinet sub-committee meeting last week.

The home secretary also took a swipe at police community support officers (PCSOs) — civilian officers with lesser powers of arrest — saying their local bosses should realise that they were on the streets not just to provide a “uniformed presence” but to react “robustly” to antisocial behaviour when they see it.

In the session, personally chaired by Blair, Reid told ministers that he backed the respect “czar”, Louise Casey, who reports directly to the prime minister but had clashed with Charles Clarke, Reid’s predecessor.